Control-sheet.



No. 705.254. Patentqd July 22,, (902. M. KUHN. H

CONTROL SHEET.

(Application filed Nov. 22, 1901.)

(No Model.)

A AA dd M m: "cams PETERS co FHUTGLITNQ. WASNNGTOM n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

'MAX KUHN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONTROL-SHEET.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 705,254, dated July 22,1902.

Application filed November 22, 1901. Serial No. 83,387. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, MAX K UHN, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'Control-Sheets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, referencesheets. As explained in the specification of' myLetters Pattent No. 674,7 7 7 ,of May 21,1901, the waiter afterobtaining the articles called for in guests order brings them to thecheckers table, presenting at the same time to the checker the guestspay-check. The checker after ascertaining whether the articles onwaiters tray are those called for by the guests order and nothing morewrites or stamps upon the order-check the price of each article andsimultaneously enters upon his tallysheet in the column designated bythe nun'1- ber of the waiter the same amounts as entered by him upon theguests pay-check, or themtal amount of the order. The cashier whenreceiving the money from the waiter stamps the guests pay-check paid andenters the amount thereof in his tally-sheet in a column bearing thenumber corresponding with that of the waiter. After the close of thedays business the control and guests pay-checks and the checkers andcashiers tally-sheets are delivered at the control department, where theentries are tabulated and compared.

In large establishments Where a great num ber of waiters are employedthe practice is to employ several checkers, dividing the waiters amongthem. This does not relieve the crowding and ensuing delay in theservice sufliciently and is productive of confusion. As remedy for thiscondition I have devised the tally-sheets, a specimen whereof is shownin the accompanying drawing in plan view.

Each tally-sheet consists of a main body A and a stub B, the connectionbetween the two being by means of a perforated line c.

The tally-sheets are consecutively numbered (129) and provided with theindividual designations of the checkers printedon the main body A of thesheet and also on the stub. The body A of the tally-sheets is divided byvertical lines a and by horizontal lines I), the total number ofvertical columns in each horizontal row being preferably ten. Thecolumns may be subdivided by lines (1 into a series of spaces'forentries of items for different classes of articles, like food, wine,cigars, &c.

Each tally-sheet must contain at least as many columns as there arewaiters detailed for service in the particular department, andpreferably more. The columns are consecutively numbered, their numberscorresponding with the numbers of waiters employed in that department.Below the last horizontal row of columns a strip 0 is left on the-body Aof the tally-sheet to enable the checkers or controllers to add up atthe close of business all figures printed in the vertical columns and tomake therefrom the total amount of all saleschecked on the tally-sheetand the total amounts of sales ot' the different groups of articles,asfood, wine, cigars, fiowers,sun-

dries, and the like. These totals aretrans ferred to stub B, whereonareprinted on'successive lines the names of groups of articles which areserved in the department wherein the tally-sheet is used, with spacesfor entering the amounts of the totals.

When my improved tally-sheets are used, all checkers in any onedepartment are provided with tally-sheets having the same numbers andthe same numbers of columns. Each checker has one or more sets ofchecking-dies and one or more ink-pads of different colors. Everychecker uses ink of a difierent shade or color from the others in eachdepartment. Any Waiter of the department may have his order checked offby any checker. The systematic arrangement of the columns (divided intogroups of ten) enables the checker to rapidly locate the columnbelonging to any waiter. No shifting of tally-sheets is necessary, andpossibility of delay is reduced to a minimum.

If any error is made by the checker, either by stamping the amount ofthe order into a wrong column of the tally-sheet or upon a wrong controlor pay check, this error is readily discovered and corrected, becausethe entry on the control or pay check indicates by the color of the inkwhich checker made it, and the number of the waiter printed on the checkindicates where to look for the corresponding entry. The only questionsthen arising are whether the entry is or is not in the columncorresponding in number with the number of the waiterandwhether theamounts of the entries are the same.

If the checker should happen to stamp a wrong amount in the control orpay check or in the column of the tally-sheet, the entries will notcorrespond. If he should happen to stamp the right amount in a wrongcolumn or upon a wrong control or pay check, one entry will be missing;and, again, the correctness of the entries on tally-sheets is readilyverified by checking off the corresponding figures entered on thecontrol or pay checks. In fact, much more readily than when a number ofwaiters are divided among several checkers and each checker checkingonly the checks of waiters assigned to him. There is also less occasionfor error. The greatest advantage of the system of tally-sheets is,however, that no matter how rapidly the guests change in the departmentor Whether all guests congregate in one part assigned to, say, forinstance, half a dozen waiters, or whether they are distributed all overthe department, so as to employ the service of all the waiters, therecan never be any delay on account of the checking system, because everychecker can rapidly and conveniently attend to any waiter.

The totals made up on strip 0 from the entries upon the sheet areentered in the corresponding columns of the statement on the stub B ofthe tally-sheet. The object of this arrangement is to enable the controldepartment to check off roughly immediately at the close of business thetotals of receipts and of the entries of charges in the cashiers andbookkeeping department, respectively, to ascertain whether the totals ofall tally-sheets correspond with the totals of cashiers receipts andcharges to bookkeeping department. If the totals of moneys received andcharges made should agree with the grand total of checkers tally-sheetswhen tabulated in the control department, this would be proof that allchecked transactions and all checks were paid or accounted for. \Vhetherall transactions were checked and whether they were checked correctlymust be ascertained by a system of revision, which is also facilitatedby the devising of my improved tally-sheet. An absolute immunity fromerror is an ideal to which all checking and controlling systems aspire,which, however, is not yet realized in practice, nor is it expected tobe realized. The vast multitude of figures and the rapidity with whichthe entries must be made precludes, almost, the possibility ofabsolutely avoiding errors. The practical value, however, of a checkingand controlling system is that it enables one to rapidly and safelytrace and locate the errors by a process of elimination.

My system here explained, assisted by the use of the herein-describedtally-sheets, enables a larger number of controllers to work on revisingthe entries Without interfering with each other. Each controller afterchecking ofi all entries in a set of tally-sheets and on the checks andmarking such errors as may be found revises totals made by the checkerson their tally-sheets. Then the totals are tabulated and compared withthe totals of the main tally-sheets of the cashiers department. If thenthose totals agree, it is not necessary to revise the detail entries andthe totals made on the checks. If a discrepancy is found, the error musthave occurred in the adding up of the totals of one or more checks, andthe work of locating it can again be distributed among a large number ofcontrollers.

I claim as my invention 1. A tally-sheet for hotels, restaurants, andthe like establishments, comprising a sheet divided into two parts eachpart bearing the same number, and the designation of the checker usingthe tally-sheet; one part being divided by longitudinal and transverselines into columns designated by numbers of the waiters employed in thedepartment, where the tally-sheet is used, and subdivided into spacesfor the entry of items of sales of different groups or classes ofarticles; and the other part being provided with a statement of names ofthe different groups and classes of articles corresponding to thesubdivisions of the columns of the other part, and with a spacethereunder for entering the total of all items of sales entered in thetally-sheet.

2. A tally-sheet for hotels, restaurants, and the like establishments,comprising a body A and a stub B each having printed thereon the samenumber, and the designation of the checker using the tally-sheet; thebody of the tally-sheet being divided by longitudinal and transverselines into columns designated by the numbers of the waiters employed inthe department where the tally-sheet is used, and subdivided into spacesfor the entry of items of sales of different groups or classes ofarticles; and the stub being provided with a statement of names of thedifferent groups and classes of articles corresponding to thesubdivisions of the columns of the body of the tally-sheet, and with aspace thereunder for entering the total of all items of sales entered inthe tally-sheet.

MAX KUHN.

\Vitnesses:

WALTER MANN, JOHN B. TRAINOR.

